Compliance: Bulletins – So Why Should I Care?

“Bulletins are boring. Bulletins are tedious. Bulletins are “way in the weeds” detailed. . .

So, why should I care about bulletins?”

The very short answer – and one your boss can give you – is that “this is what you are paid to do.”

Though that motivation is compelling, I never found it to be inspiring.

Let me see if I can inspire you with reasons why the monthly bulletins are important. . .

1. Bulletins provide continuity: Let me go back to my reference in a previous blog post to the airplane pilots’ axiom that flying is “hours of tedium and moments of sheer terror”. Pilots are trained to always watch their instruments and follow careful procedures - even on sunny days. This gives them discipline and familiarity with the aircraft and its instruments. When the unexpected happens – even when the “moments of sheer terror” happen – they already have a wealth of contextual knowledge from their discipline of always watching everything.
   
   The same holds true for the Compliance Team. Reading the monthly bulletins and connecting the dots between them – these are the disciplines that give you the contextual knowledge to foresee major changes – changes that would otherwise blindside you and your company.
   
   

2. “The devil is in the detail”: How many times have you heard – or used – that phrase? Let me give you an example. A rep from the payment network comes in and give a colourful PowerPoint presentation complete with videos on a new product. However, the presentation doesn’t cover the detailed requirements and restrictions that the new product carries. Those details hide in the bulletins.
   
   A good Compliance team partners with its Corporate Strategy and Product teams. The good Compliance team will be reading the monthly bulletins related to that new product. The Compliance Team will be invited to that fancy PowerPoint presentation and will be looking for the details associated with that new product – before, during, and after the meeting. 
   

   Nothing breaks a new product launch like missing the details – and I have seen many products launch and sink because nobody was reading the monthly bulletins.
   
   

3. Knowledge is power: Too many people misuse this statement. They think they, as an individual, will be more powerful by grabbing information and not sharing knowledge. No, it doesn’t work that way. That person will rise with their knowledge, but they alienate themselves from their coworkers and partners. Over time, everyone will realize that person’s knowledge is not worth the bother of navigating their ego. So, the person is marginalized or let go – without a goodbye party.
   
   Knowledge is power when used in the context of partnerships. The Compliance team is the curator of technical, operational, security, and legal information through the bulletins. This information is translated and distilled into useable knowledge by the Compliance team – so that it can be shared with other impacted teams. This provides power to the company – and the ability to have more pertinent and exact conversations with internal and external partners.
   
   

4. It’s your job: I bet you didn’t see that one coming! But it’s true. If you work in Compliance, you have signed on to be a Compliance professional. If you are going to be the best, you need to track the moving pieces surrounding you:

   1. Know what your upstream and downstream partners are announcing in their bulletins,

   2. Know how these bulletins tie back to strategic initiatives and changes in the payments world,

   3. And, most of all, be your best at what you do!!